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Saturday, 2 August 2014

Outgoing Army
chief General Bikram Singh’s comments on Lance Naik Hemraj Singh, who was
beheaded by Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT) on January 8 last year in
Poonch sector, have created a flutter in defence circles in Jammu and Kashmir.

Defence sources,
who felt that the outgoing Army chief perhaps did so to bolster his
post-retirement prospects, say, “why at the first place he kept quiet for so
long to divulge Army’s retaliation to this particular incident on the LoC and
why he divulged it today on the day of demitting office.”

“Had the outgoing Army chief divulged
it soon after retaliatory action, it would have also given some kind of
consolation to Dharamwati— martyred soldier’s wife,” they said.

On the fateful day, Lance
Naiks Hemraj and Sudhakar Singh were brutally killed, their bodies mutilated
and former’s head was taken away by Pakistan’s BAT after it breached the LoC
and intruded 450 metres inside the Indian Territory in the Balnoi area.

Soon after the incident,
family members of Hemraj, including his wife Dharamwati, back home in Mathura
had went on a hunger strike demanding that the head of her husband be brought
back.

The family had called off
their six-day-old fast only after a visit by UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav
and assurances by Gen Bikram Singh that steps would be taken to get back the severed
head. “The outgoing Army chief should have avoided making comments on this
issue on the day of his retirement. We all know that Special Forces are meant
for carrying out such tactical operations and the Army keeps them under the
wraps for obvious reasons,” said the sources.

If the comments were so
unavoidable then they should have been made soon after the Army avenged the
brutal killings of its troopers, they added. His comment to the queries on
Hemraj was unwarranted, they said.

In New Delhi today when asked
if India had given a befitting reply after the January 8 beheading incident,
the outgoing Army chief reportedly said: “It has been done. Please understand
that when we use force, that use is from tactical to operational to strategic
levels. When I mention that during that incident, it was aimed at operations at
the tactical level, which have been undertaken. I think this has been done by
the local commander, the chiefs have nothing to do with it”.

Soon after the incident, Gen
Bikram Singh had said during a press conference that the Army would retaliate
at a time and place of its choosing. He had given the statement six days after
the incident.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140801/main5.htm

Gen Suhag takes
over as Army Chief

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 31

General Dalbir
Singh Suhag today took over Chief of the Indian Army today. He will be at the
helm till December 31, 2016, a 29-month tenure.

The outgoing Army
Chief General Bikram Singh handed over the charge to his successor this
afternoon at a brief ceremony at the South Block here. Gen Suhag’s wife Namita
Singh Suhag was by his side when he took over.

General Suhag was
Vice Chief of the Indian Army and had been appointed the Chief by the outgoing
UPA regime.

Arun Jaitley,
Defence Minister in the newly elected BJP-led NDA regime, fully backed the
decision of his predecessor AK Antony.

His appointment
had earlier kicked up a row with former Army Chief General (retd) VK Singh, now
a minister in the NDA government, questioning it. Jaitley then put his foot
down, putting an end to any uncertainty regarding his appointment. He virtually
asked the former Army Chief not to question the decision again. Gen Suhag will
be the 26th Army Chief of independent India. He will inspect a Guard of Honour
tomorrow and will also pay homage at the India Gate.

Gen Suhag had
joined National Defence Academy (NDA) in 1970 and was commissioned into 4/5
Gorkha Rifles in June 1974.

The new Chief
takes over at a time when the force is facing challenges of modernisation in
its artillery, infantry and air defence arms and is also facing friction on the
borders with Pakistan and China.

Gen Suhag was at
the centre of a controversy triggered by “discipline and vigilance” ban imposed
on him by the then Army Chief Gen V K Singh in connection with an intelligence
operation in Assam.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140801/nation.htm#13

‘We gave befitting reply to Pak after beheading
incident’

Tribune News
Service

New Delhi, July 31

Outgoing Army
chief General Bikram Singh today said India had given a befitting reply to
Pakistan after the beheading of an Indian soldier by Pakistani troops in 2013
along the LoC.

“It (the response) had been
done. That was a tactical operation which had been undertaken by local
commanders,” he told mediapersons just before demitting office.

After the incident, he had
said during a press conference that the Army would retaliate at a time and place
of its choosing. He had given the statement six days after the incident in
which Pakistan’s Special Forces and terrorists beheaded Lance Naik Hemraj Singh
and mutilated the body of another Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh along the LoC in
Poonch sector of J&K.

On possibility of a skirmish
with China, Gen Singh said: “I don’t foresee any war with China. We have
comprehensive rules of engagement with China. We have robust mechanisms in
place and there is an understanding at the macro level.”

India is raising a specialised
Mountain Strike Corps at the cost of Rs 64,000 crore aimed at matching China’s
rising military might. He said units of the Mountain Strike Corps to be
deployed along the China border.

On being asked if he held the
same opinion for the western front (Pakistan), the General said: “No the
western front, you know very well there is an LoC (Line of Control). It has
traditionally been a very active border and at the tactical level, there is
firing from across the border.”

Asked about transgressions on
the China border, he said, “On our northern borders, even we are carrying out
patrolling and the patrolling by our troops and PLA soldiers is done in an area
which is disputed.” “Both have claims to that area so when patrols come in over
there, there is a face-off which is dealt with as per the rules of engagement,”
he added.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140801/nation.htm#25

General Bikram
Singh sees no war with China

Says India gave
befitting reply to Pak after beheading incident

Tribune News
Service

New Delhi, July 31

Measuring his
words carefully, outgoing Army Chief General Bikram Singh today said he did not
foresee a war with China but he evaded a similar direct opinion on future
conflicts with Pakistan saying that was a ‘very active’ border.

On possibility of
a skirmish with China, General Singh said: “I don’t foresee any war with China.
We have comprehensive rules of engagement with China. We have robust mechanisms
in place and there is an understanding at the macro level.”

India is raising a
specialised Mountain Strike Corps at the cost of Rs 64,000 crore aimed at
matching China’s rising military might. He said units of the Mountain Strike
Corps would be deployed along the China border. On being asked if he thought
the same for the western front (Pakistan), he said: “No. It has traditionally
been a very active border and at the tactical level, there is firing from
across the border.”

The General
reiterated that India had given a befitting reply to Pakistan after the beheading
of an Indian soldier by Pakistani troops in 2013 along the LoC.

“It (the response) had been
done. That was a tactical operation which had been undertaken by local
commanders,” he told mediapersons just before demitting office.

After the incident, he had
said that the Army would retaliate at a time and place of its choosing.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140801/nation.htm#14

Lt Gen Campose relinquishes WC charge

Will take over as
Vice Chief of Army Staff in Delhi tomorrow

Tribune News
Service

Chandigarh, July
31

Lieutenant General
Philip Campose today relinquished charge as the General Officer
Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command. He is scheduled to take over as Vice
Chief of the Army Staff at Army Headquarters tomorrow from Lt Gen Dalbir Singh
Suhag, who has been elevated as the Army Chief.

Lt Gen KJ Singh, a
cavalry officer, will take over as the Western Army commander tomorrow.

Lt Gen Campose,
who is also Colonel of the Mechanised Infantry, was given a warm farewell by
officers and troops at Command Headquarters, Chandimandir, today. He laid a
wreath at the Veer Smriti war memorial to pay tributes to martyrs and was
presented a guard of honour.

He had taken over
as the Western Army Commander from Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra in July 2013. His impetus
was towards enhancing operational readiness of the Command by promoting best
practices based on modern technology and revamping the security mechanism in
the Jammu region to enhance alertness and foil infiltration bids and terrorist
attacks, a statement issued here said.

Besides
operational issues, he also focused on infrastructure development, improving
living standards and empowerment of all ranks, welfare of ex-servicemen and
widows. Additional funds were also allotted to the Ex-servicemen Contributory
Health Scheme to improve the functioning of clinics.

He also had close
interaction with the administrations of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and
Chandigarh on matters relating to rehabilitation of ex-servicemen, mitigation
of grievances related to pension, land for girls hostel in Chandigarh for wards
of servicemen and resolving of land issues.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140801/nation.htm#15

Lt Gen Hira is Vajra Corps commander

Tribune News
Service

Chandigarh, July
31

Lieutenant General
Narinder Pal Singh Hira assumed charge as the General Officer Commanding of the
Jalandhar-based Vajra Corps today.

He has also taken
over as the Colonel of the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment from General Bikram
Singh who retired as the Army Chief today. Lt Gen Hira replaces Lt Gen Ashwini
Kumar Bakshi, who superannuated from service today.

An alumnus of the
National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakvasala, Lt Gen Hira was commissioned in
the Sikh Light Infantry in December 1978. He commanded an infantry battalion in
active counter-insurgency operations as part of Operation Rhino in Assam and
later commanded an infantry brigade and an infantry division on the Line of
Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

He has done all
important tri-services professional courses, including the Defence Services
Staff College, Higher Command and the National Defence College.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140802/main3.htm

If Pak provokes,
we’ll hit back hard: Gen Suhag

Tribune News
Service

New Delhi, August
1

Adopting an
aggressive posture, new Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag today gave a
stern warning to Pakistan, saying a military response to any misadventure from
Islamabad would be ‘intense, immediate’ and more than adequate.

The warning comes
a day after Suhag’s predecessor General Bikram Singh (retd) said India gave a
befitting reply to Pakistan after the 2013 beheading incident along the Line of
Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir. General Suhag was talking to reporters
after inspecting a guard of honour on his first day in office.

Responding to a
question as to what was the befitting reply given to Pakistan in 2013, General
Suhag said: “I can only tell you that our response to any such act will be more
than adequate in the future...It will be intense and immediate.”

General Bikram
Singh had already told you about the response yesterday, he said.

Pakistani Special
Forces troops had beheaded Lance Naik Hemraj and mutilated the body of another
jawan Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh along the LoC in Poonch.The incident had
resulted in widespread outrage across India. Bikram Singh said yesterday that
he did not foresee a war with China but evaded reply to a query pertaining to a
possible future conflict with Pakistan.

Both India and
Pakistan have nuclear weapon capabilities and the dispute in J&K raises the
risk of a major skirmish. In June this year, the Stockholm International Peace
Research Institute said India's nuclear warhead count was between 90 and 110,
while the figure for Pakistan was 100-120.

General Suhag —
who will be Army Chief till December 31, 2016 — said the thrust would be on
enhancing the operational preparedness of the force. Modernisation of the
force, infrastructure development, optimisation of human resources and welfare
of serving soldiers would be the other focus areas, said Suhag. “My focus will
be my soldier. I will ensure that our soldiers are motivated and are
competently led and trained. They will get latest weapons and equipment,” said
the Army Chief..

“I would like to express my sincere
gratitude to the government for reposing faith in me,” said Suhag, who was
appointed as the Army Chief by the outgoing UPA regime. The newly elected
NDA-led BJP regime fully backed the previous government’s decision. Though
former Army Chief General (retd) VK Singh, now a Union Minister, had questioned
Suhag’s elevation, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley put his foot down and
supported Suhag.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140802/main7.htm

China violated
border pact on June 2: Jaitley

Tribune News
Service

New Delhi, August
1

Just a week after
the new government took over on May 26, China violated the border pact it had
signed with India. The violation of the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement
(BDCA) took place on June 2 in southeastern Ladakh.

A protest was
lodged by India at a flag meeting on July 15, the government told the Lok Sabha
today.

Article VI of the
BDCA signed in October last year states "the two sides agree that they
shall not follow or tail patrols of the other side in areas where there is no
common understanding of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the India-China
border areas."

In reply to a
written query, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said, "Since signing of the
BDCA, Chinese troops violated the provision by tailing our patrol in eastern
Ladakh on June 2".

India and China
signed the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement to maintain peace and
tranquility along the Line of Actual Control in October last year. After
signing the BDCA, the UPA government had warned that the pact was not a
guarantee that incursions or transgressions would stop, but would help in
addressing issues along the border.

India and China
have 3,448-km-long border which is not demarcated on the ground and roughly
runs along the ridgeline in the icy heights of the Himalayas.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140802/nation.htm#7

Jaguar crashes near Bhuj; pilot ejects safely

Manas Dasgupta

AHMEDABAD, August
1

A Jaguar fighter
aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed near Bibber village in Nakhatrana
taluka in the border district of Kutch today but the trainee pilot ejected
safely.

There was no
casualty on the ground, though the plane crash created panic in the village. An
official spokesperson of the Defence Ministry confirmed the accident and said a
court of inquiry had been ordered to investigate the cause of the crash. The
aircraft had taken off from the Bhuj airbase, the district headquarter of
Kutch, but crashed within about 30 kilometre on the north of Bhuj.

Eye-witnesses said
as the aircraft hit the ground, people of Bibber and other nearby villages
rushed to the accident site. "The wreckage of the IAF plane is totally
charred," Gagubha Jadeja, deputy sarpanch of Bibber village, said. He
claimed that a deep crater was formed due to the impact of the sharp fall of
the plane as it hit the ground and burst into flames.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140802/nation.htm#8

OROP under consideration, says MoS

Tribune News
Service

New Delhi, August
1

The ‘one-rank
one-pension’ (OROP) formula for retired soldiers is under consideration,
Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh informed the Lok Sabha today.

In a written reply
to Maj Gen BC Khanduri (Retd.) in the Lok Sabha, Rao assured that the principle
of ‘one-rank one-pension’ for the armed forces had been accepted by the
government.

He said the
modalities for implementation were discussed with various stakeholders. “It
will be implemented once the modalities are approved by the government,” he
said.

On July 30, the
Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement had wrote a letter to the Defence Minister and
also chiefs of the three services saying the delay in implementing the OROP was
a cause concern.

A copy of the
letter was also sent to newly appointed BJP president Amit Shah.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140802/nation.htm#9

Lt Gen KJ Singh takes over as Western Army
commander

Tribune News
Service

Chandigarh, August
1

Lieutenant General
KJ Singh today took over as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the
Western Command in a simple ceremony at Chandimandir.

Singh’s
predecessor Lt Gen Philip Campose has moved to Army Headquarters as Vice-Chief
of the Army Staff.

On assuming
charge, Lt Gen Singh visited the Sarva Dharma Sthal in Chandimandir and paid homage
to martyrs at the Veer Smriti war memorial. He also inspected a guard of honour
which was presented by 63 Cavalry, his parent regiment, which he has commanded.
He was Colonel of 63 Cavalry and 83 Armoured Regiment.

An alumnus of the
National Defence Academy, Lt Gen KJ Singh was commissioned in June 1977. In a
career spanning over 37 years, he has served in counter- insurgency areas,
including Nagaland, Manipur and Punjab. He was also part of the United Nations
Peace Keeping Force in Angola. He has commanded a T-90 Armoured Brigade and
served as Additional Director General of Perspective Planning at Integrated
Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army). He has held instructional
appointment at the School of Armoured Warfare and Higher Command Wing of the
Army War College.

The officer has
been decorated with the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal twice and is also the recipient
of the United Nation Force Commander’s citation and Chief of Army Staff’s
Commendation for bravery. He was awarded Commandant’s Medal in the Higher
Command course and the Col Pyara Lal Medal in National Defence College Course.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2014/20140802/edit.htm#1

India and the US
re-start strategic dialogue

The recent visit
of US Secretary of State John Kerry to India was an attempt to improve
relations between the two countries. In this, the visit succeeded. He managed
to smoothen over a number of irritants, including the earlier denial of a US
visa to the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Kerry also pointed out, repeatedly,
the depth and the potential of the relationship between the two nations.
Calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Secretary of State laid the
groundwork for the PM's summit meeting with US President Barack Obama, which is
scheduled in September at the White House.

Kerry also met
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who did some plain speaking on a
number of issues that have become irritants. She has apparently received some
reassurances, and the Secretary of State stated the known US position on
others. The first high-level contact between the US and the Modi government has
given reasons to believe that the US is willing to make amends about its
previous attitude towards Modi. The electronic espionage issue also figured
prominently, as did the WTO talks, over which perceptions between the two
countries varied sharply, as they did on Russia and its activities on Ukraine.

The inclusion of
US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker in the delegation underlined the US
desire to improve trade. The civilian-nuclear deal has got stuck in indemnity
clauses and both sides need to work out a solution that will be viable. India
needs US help in meeting its electricity needs by tapping nuclear energy in a
most cost-effective and safe manner. Indian engineers and IT companies need
more access, which the present protectionist tendencies in the US make
difficult. This is one of the many issues that can be sorted out, provided both
sides make the effort. Kerry's visit has broken the ice and set the stage for a
more meaningful interaction between the Obama administration and the Modi
government. This is an important first step, which gives rise to many more
expectations.

The Pakistani army
will be punished if it employs dirty tricks along the Line of Control (LoC),
Indian army chief General Dalbir Singh warned on his first day in office on
Friday.

He said India's
response would be "intense and immediate" if there was a repeat of
provocations such as the beheading of an Indian soldier in January 2013 or the
killing of five soldiers in a cross-border strike last August.

"I can tell
you that our response to any such act will be more than adequate in future. It
will be intense and immediate," he said.

Dalbir Singh's
predecessor, General Bikram Singh, had on Thursday reiterated that India had
avenged the murders of its soldiers along the LoC last year by inflicting
casualties on the Pakistani army.

The former chief
had said India could not be expected to stick to rules if the neighbour was
breaking them. Bikram Singh had last year ordered the army to mount a massive
response, including artillery fire, in case of provocation by the Pakistani
army.

The rationale for
immediate offensive action, now also being advocated by Dalbir Singh, seems to
be inflicting punishment on Pakistan or the so-called non-state actors at a
threshold below full-scale conflict.

Dalbir Singh said
his priorities would be to modernise the army, fill critical gaps in
capabilities and infrastructure development along the northern and northeastern
borders.

In a
border-related development, defence minister Arun Jaitley told Lok Sabha on
Friday that Chinese troops had tailed an Indian patrol in eastern Ladakh on
June 2, violating the new border pact inked last October.

As first reported
by HT on Friday, Dalbir Singh will visit incursion-prone pockets along the Line
of Actual Control — the de facto border between India and China — on August 12.
He will assess the situation at Depsang, Chumar and Demchok, areas that have
witnessed a series of border violations by Chinese troops.